Theatre
presence takes over his reality and strange creatures emerge from his body: the dead ones have returned to retrieve something he took from them. The mysterious pieces slowly and magically slip into place.
Though twisted and sinister. the story is born out of a child-like imagination and it's this contrast between innocence and darkness that gives it such potency. The surreal comic expressions of the three children, with their glorious costumes and painted faces. and the animated touches in the visuals. are wickedly Tim Burtonesque. The chalk scribbles on blackness. outlining a window. fridge and clouds. are simplistic but clever suggestions of childhood vision and the musical score is suitably eerie and powerful. Rich in atmOSphere and ceaselessly inventive. this show touches you with the rarest of beauty. (Claire Piela)
I Pleasance Courtyard. 556 6550. until 28 Aug, 7. 05pm, [‘70 (£8.50).
PRODUCT
Clever lampoon of the movie business 0000
The business of movies has been represented in all its venality and corruption in many mediums before. especially in the motion picture business itself. But in the theatre you can go further. and be both more subtle and more outspoken. Mark Ravenhill's monologue for Paines Plough. delivered as a ‘pitch‘ to a nightly volunteer. sees him representing a stupendously tasteless. racist and ideologically chilling film synopsis to a filmstar. Its beauty is that of any good piece of grotesquerie; it's appallineg hyperbolical by nature. yet still touches enough of the real world (and the real movies we see on screen) to be believable.
In the film described. a woman falls in love with an Arab man, and Sure and certain terror suspect. after a plane journey with him. The not-too- subtle raCIsm of his representation is a combination of the contemporary Muslim—as-terrorist stereotype and a much older bigotry. involving sexuality and even smell, about Middle Eastern peOples. We can see an Arnold Schwarzenegger figure involved in the subsequent project. in all its mindless violence and self-righteous political glibness. Ravenhill's character flatters and deceives his prey to good comic effect, proving that for a dramatist. he's got something of an extra string to his bow in the form of performance skills. Well worth a watch.
(Steve Cramer)
The Drowning Point «.0 Claire Porter plays a manic widow. whose husband drowned at sea with his lover. She reminisces. pointlessly reasoning in an endless struggle with irreplaceable memories. This is moving and occasionally unbearable to watch. and Porter is fiercely accomplished as she conveys the extremes of human emotion. This isn’t an easy afternoon. but it's a powerful story to add to your programme. (Claire Piela)
C, 0870 701 5105, until 28 Aug, 4pm. £8.50 (£7.50).
Ae Fond Kiss .0. Well away from the hub of the Fringe. at the lovely Rosslyn Chapel. Nonsense Room Productions present an endearing joumey through Robert Burns‘ life. pausing mostly on his passions for the ladies and verse. But the emphasis on his reputation as an insatiable rogue causes the play to limp towards the end. Still. the overall experience makes this a worthy trip out of town. (Claire Piela) Rosslyn C hapel. 440 2159. until 27 Aug (not 21). 7pm, £12 (£10).
Asking for it 0.. Joanna Rush‘s solo show starts out as an entertaining personal joumey through showbiz glamour and the guilt-ridden realm of Catholicism. before branching out to sex. AIDS. marriage and motherhood. It could do with being a little tighter. but with vigorously fleshed out characters and a witty script. this modest performance should not be overlooked. (Claire Piela) Sweet on the Grassmarket. 0870 241 0136. until 28 Aug. 10.40pm. £7.50 (£6.50). Astrakhan Winter 0” Set on a smoky. dimly lit stage to a pulsing and potent musical accompaniment. this is a passionate story of a refugee who suffers the secrets of war. This dynamic production sees Cambridge students whispering a lot of profundities and while the power behind it is undeniable. the unrelenting darkness and intense atmosphere are a tad heavy. (Claire Piela) C. 0870 70] 5105. until 29 Aug, 3pm. £8.50 (£7.50).
Broken Road .00 I‘m intimately squeezed between the two other audience members in the back seat of a Mondeo in complete silence. This action-packed joumey towards the outskirts of Edinburgh. where characters are dropped off and new ones picked up. is woven into last year's hit A Mobile Thriller. Only hearing one side of the story is a unique experience but you can't help feeling you missed something. (Claire Piela) The Hush Car. various locations, 226 0000, until 27 Aug. 8.30pm & 10.30pm. £25.
The Flickering Truths of a Cruel and Dirty Bitch 0.. The wackiness of Laura Griffin’s one-woman show makes it as unique as the title promises. An eclectic mix of cabaret. classical music and colourful hand-made props gives it a kind of childlike. chocolate box appeal. The poetic language. though rarely lucid, is curiously hypnotic. Essentially it‘s the ramblings of an eccentric young lady: strange but seductive. (Claire Piela) Old St Paul '3 Church Hall. 556 0476. until 28 Aug. 12am. £6( £5 ).
Lilita .0. New York fringe company the Allies find more ways of representing the female body in an hour
108 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 2:") Aug—8 Sep 2005
than Hugh Hefner has in a lifetime. and more creatively. too. in this Angela Carter-like piece evoking myth. folk tale and Biblical parable. Ultimately. it tells a tale of contemporary pedophilia and the paradoxes of a pop culture that sexes up young girls like Britney Spears. There are rough edges. but the ideas under the text are intriguing. Underbelly. 0870 745 3083. until 28 Aug, 9.15pm, £8.50—£9.50 (£7.50—£8.5()).
The Mystery of Chung Ling Soo .0. This intriguing little piece of forgotten history is typical of the folks at New York’s 78th St Theatre. with all the theatricality of their overarching style. The true story of a magician who disguises himself as a kind of Chinese mystic. and is killed performing a trick about dodging bullets, this is a beautifully performed piece of historical trivia. though it is at least twenty minutes too long. (Steve Cramer)
C Chambers St. 0870 70] 5 I ()5. until 29 Aug. 4.25pm. £9.50--£8.50 (£7.50) Nymphs and Shepherds (A Paedophlle’s Life) .0.
Oliver (Barold Philips). a remorselcss paedophile in his 50s. unravels and analyses with graphic detail his life's obsession with young girls in this new. boldly controversial play by David Hines. Philips' compelling portrayal reveals a complex character. tackling the taboo of his own sexual preference. Intimate. oppressive and intense. (Michelle Macintyre) Sweet Ego. 0870 241 0136, until 27 Aug, 12.30. £7 (£6). Pricked .0. Anita Sullivan’s slick play examines the joumeys of young woman Roz (Ruth Mitchell). both in searching for her infector after being diagnosed HIV positive and her effort to accept her situation. Mitchell and co- performer Derek Frood are energetic and powerfully compelling but the play‘s structure of imagined meetings and flashbacks becomes frustrating. (Michelle Macintyre) Assembly Rooms. 226 2428. until 21 Aug. 1.45pm. £10—£1 l (£9—£10). Radioplay 0.. On a bus journey through a surreal and violent landscape from Comwall to London. performer Ed Gaughan tells us the story of his character's forebear. an Irish emigrant who started the RKO broadcast company in New York. There‘s plenty of humour. and some deft touches with live music and multimedia to this light and witty little piece. (Steve Cramer) Underbelly. 0870 745 3083 until 28 Aug. 4.40pm. £9.50—-£8.50 (£8..50—£7.5()).
Seb Lime .0. Featuring talking corpses and so-called monsters from the id. this twisted comedy from Newcastle University theatre company is a cut above the rest. It’s a classic tale of boy meets girl. boy loses girl. girl dies and comes back to life. boy becomes psychotic. Light-hearted and very funny. (Claire Piela) C. 0870 701 5105. until 29 Aug, 1/.15mn. £6.50 (£5.50).
Sleep Less Moss .0. Russia's Fringe First-winning Do-Theatre returns with a night time investigation of the half-crazed state between waking and sleep. After twilight beginnings, the show re-harnesses its dramatic force with images of sleepless embraces and loss. And it is in these exhausted dances that it proves most powerful. (Corrie Mills) Aurora Nova @ St Stephen's, 0131 558 3853, until 29 Aug. 10.30pm, £12.50 (£9)
Steiner Graffiti .0. Rudolph Steiner. founder of Anthroposophy (and those schools where kids are encouraged to grow carrots and allowed to run riot). is the inspiration for Christopher Marcus‘ one-man show. While insightful. it's visually static. (Claire Piela) C Central. 0870 701 5105. until 29 Aug. 7.35pm. £8.50 (£7.50).
Good Little "ma 0. Don‘t mess with me. you son of a b***h (. . . I’ll bore you senseless). If Sister Dee came with a warning it would be something like this. As she growls her Americanisms about the world’s evils. it’s a battle to listen. This woman is too angry for her own good. (Claire Piela) Theatre Workshop. 226 5425. until 28 Aug (not 25). 9.30pm. £8 ([5).
Life in show 0. Catherine O’Shea‘s play about a theatre company’s troubled rehearsal process for their feminist inspired production about Susannah Cibber (an actress from the l8th century) is a slightly confused. fragmented show. Clumsy film footage exacerbates a lack of focus; which is a shame. as there are some strong
; performances. (Michelle Macintyre)
Smirnoff Baby Belly. 08 70 745 3083. dates vary. 1.15pm. £7—£8 ( £6—£ 7). Lost Property .0 This energetic physical piece shows interwoven stories about people looking for what they've lost. It's an endearing idea. but the plot makes little progress and lots of clumsy prancing around the stage ensures the audience feels as frustrated as the characters. (Claire Piela) Gilded Balloon '12wiot. 668 1633, until 28 Aug. 2.45pm. £8—£9 (£7-£8).
Meat .0 Dogs like meat. Is it a problem? Ethan Lipton's play delves into the bloody reality of camivorous obsession. As mongrels and zoo-bound gazelles give their very different views on the world of claw to mouth. Meat is as unruly a show as the animals who
make it up. (Corrie Mills) Underbelly. 08 70 745 3083, until 28 Aug. 9.15pm. ; £8—£9 (£7—£8).
Women of Trachis O.
No one does a tragedy quite like the Ancient Greeks. and Sophocles‘ Women of Traehis is no exception. Using Ezra
2 Pounds translation. Cambridge University ADC emphasise the poetic.
g Thrillseeking 0
using their chorus to spell out the action with movement and song. Unfortunately it doesn't quite stand the test of a full dramatic hour. (Corrie Mills)
C. (.‘ltamhers St. 0870 701 5105, until 29 Aug. 6pm. £8.50 ( £7.50)
Awful am-
dram armchair thriller-cum-sex farce that 3 begins with a dead body and doesn‘t get 3 any livelier from there. Half of the
youthful cast look like they‘ve no idea what they're doing. while the admittedly spirited playing of the other half fails to inject any life into this show. (Miles Fielder) C Central. 0870 701 5105. until 29 Aug. 8.55pm. £8.50 (£7.50).
The Pipe Manufacturer’s Blue
2 Book O
I confess I left at the intermission of this piece. This supposed satirical pastiche tells the story of a mysterious stranger who saves a woman froth rape by beating a village idiot to death. And I didn't see beyond that. The least said. the better. (Steve Cramcr) C Electric. 0870 701 5105, until 29 Aug. 5pm. £8.50 (£7.50).